One Coffee, Please
by cautiousAlbatross
Summary: Dave falls for Jade, the pretty girl who works in a cafe.


You don't really intend to go there, at first, but it's cold and raining and you see that warm light, shining through the dark, and head straight for it. It turns out to be a small café, empty apart from the old man in the corner, reading a newspaper, and the girl behind the counter. She smiles at you as you walk in, dripping all over the floor, and you notice that despite the round glasses and buck teeth, she's extremely pretty.

"One coffee, please," you say, running a hand through your hair and shaking water droplets everywhere.

"Coming right up," she replies, grinning, "That'll be two forty."  
You dig out your wallet and hand her a slightly soggy five dollar bill, smiling apologetically.

"Awful weather out," she comments, handing you your change and turning to make your coffee.

"Yeah," you say, nodding, "I think I just barely escaped from drowning."

She laughs loudly, even though your joke wasn't funny, and you think it's the happiest laugh you've ever heard.

"How do you take it?" she asks, turning to look at you.

"Milk, no sugar."

"So, what were you doing out in the rain?" she asks, handing you your coffee.

"I was just on my way home," you say, sitting down at the counter, "From another café, actually. The rain caught me by surprise."

"It came on very suddenly," she says, nodding, "Hopefully it'll stop soon."

Part of you hopes it'll go on forever, but you nod anyway. She starts to wipe down the counter-top, although it already looks clean to you.

"I was just having lunch with my sister," you say, mostly by way of conversation, "She thinks I need to get a girlfriend."

She laughs, her cloth pausing mid-wipe.

"It's not my fault she gets all the girls," you add, making her laugh even more.

The old man in the corner glares at you over his newspaper, but you ignore him, taking a sip of your coffee.

"So, what about you?" you ask, placing your cup carefully on the counter.

"I've been working all day," she says, shrugging, "It's been pretty quiet. Not many customers."

"Cool," you say, nodding, "Is it often busy here?"

"Sometimes. Saturdays, mostly."

You keep making small talk until the rain stops, over an hour later, and your coffee goes cold. You don't want to leave, but you don't really have an excuse to stay any longer.

"Well, I'd better go," you say, glancing outside and standing up, "It was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you, too," she says, smiling.

You head for the door, then pause.

"I forgot to ask your name," you say, turning back to look at her.

"It's Jade."

"I'm Dave."

You hesitate for a moment, about to say something else, but decide against it, and leave. You start to think of excuses to go back there as you walk home.

You go back there for lunch the next day – a Sunday – although it takes you a little while to find it again. It's a little busier today, with a couple sitting by the window, and a guy a bit older than you reading on his own, sipping a cup of tea. You smile involuntarily when you see Jade is behind the counter again.

"Hey," she says, and your heart does a little jump when you see she remembers you – although it's hardly likely she would have forgotten your existence in less than 24 hours.

"Hey," you say, attempting to play it cool, "So, what's your best sandwich?"

"Hmmm," she says, thoughtfully chewing on her lip in a way that's almost painfully adorable, "Well, the cheese ploughman's is my favourite."  
"Okay, one of those, then. And a coffee, please."

"Four eighty," she says, smiling, as you sit down at the counter.

"All right," you say, digging out your wallet, "So do you work here every day?"

"Most days," she says, shrugging and handing you your change, "Usually weekends and evenings, except in the holidays."

"Paying for college?" you ask, as she turns to make your sandwich and coffee.

"Yep."

"Studying?"

"Nuclear physics," she says, with a dorky grin.

"Really? You don't look like a physicist."

"What do physicists look like?" she asks, teasingly.

"Old, mostly, I think," you say, shrugging.

"What about physics students?" she asks, putting your sandwich in front of you, then turning to finish making your coffee.

"I don't think I've ever seen one outside. I thought they were nocturnal."

She laughs, handing you your coffee and then leaning against the counter, and you take a quick sip before putting it down.

"So what about you?" she asks, "Are you at college?"

"Yeah. Music technology."

"Is that a real degree?"

She wrinkles her nose as she says 'real', and you laugh.

"For a given value of real," you reply, half-shrugging.

She giggles, and you take a bite of your sandwich.

"Hey, this is pretty good," you say, your mouth full.

"Told you so."

She giggles again as you take another bite, cramming more sandwich than can really fit into your mouth.

"Slow down!" she says, covering her mouth with one hand, "You'll choke!"

"I'm a sandwich-eating pro," you try to say, although you don't think she can understand a word you say through your mouthful of sandwich.

"You have to savour it!" she says, tutting loudly.

You swallow, with difficulty, then grin.

"Sorry," you say, taking a sip of your coffee.

"So what do you do in your music course thing?" she asks, leaning her elbows on the counter and resting her chin in her hands.

"It's mostly music editing stuff," you say, shrugging, "Hence technology."

"Oh, cool! So what are you gonna do with it, then? Like, as a job."

"I do a bit of DJing, so maybe that. I don't know, really."

You take another bite of your sandwich.

"So what about you?" you ask.

"I might go into research," she says, looking thoughtful, "Or maybe I'll do something entirely different."

"Like what?"

"I've always wanted to travel," she says, with a shy smile.

"That's pretty cool."

"You think so?"

You nod, and her face lights up. You feel this sudden urge to make her smile like that every day, and wonder how you fell for her so quickly.

"Most people wouldn't dare do something like that," you say, grinning, "It takes guts."

She shrugs modestly, looking down at the counter, and tries to hide her broad grin.

"I don't think I would," you add, then bite your sandwich.

"Why not?" she asks, looking curious.

You shrug, chewing.

"Don't feel like it, I guess," you say, swallowing then taking another bite.

"Well, that's cool, too!" she says, with a cheerful smile, and you laugh.

You continue eating in silence for a bit, as she serves another customer. You watch her out of the corner of your eye, thinking about asking her out. You figure you might as well go for it. By the time she finishes and comes back over to you, you've eaten the rest of the sandwich and nearly finished your coffee.

"So," you say, gulping down the last mouthful of coffee, "You wanna go out to dinner some time?"

"Okay!" she says, with an excited grin that makes your stomach feel like it's doing a backflip.

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Seven?"

She nods.

"I'll pick you up, then?"

She grins, and tells you her address.

"I know a good place," you say, standing up.

"Good."

You laugh.

"See you, then," you say, giving her a little wave and going to leave.

"Bye!"

You walk away with a spring in your step, feeling almost excessively cheerful. A date with Jade tomorrow, and after that, who knows? You have a feeling it's only going to get better from here.


End file.
